Electric work-indicator for mills



(No Model.)

A. D. BL ODGETT. ELEOTRIG' WORK INDICATOR FOR MILLS. No. 298,341.

mmmm

m is WITNESSES- INVENTEI 3 SheetsSheet 2 I 3' SheetsSheet 3.

(No-Model.)

A. 1). BLODGETT.

ELECTRIC WORKINDIGATOR FOR MILLS. No. 298,341.

Patented May 13, 1884,.

WTNEEEE-E- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AARON D. BLODGETT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC WORK-INDICATOR FOR MILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,341, dated May 13, 1884.

Application filed December 20, 1882. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON D. BLODGETT, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Electric WVork-Indicators for Mills, of which the following is a specification.

Hy invention relates to a system of automatic electrical registering and recording,and particularly to the application of such a system, and of the apparatus in which it is embodied, in connection with factories or mills, and as a means of registering the periods of operation of the mechanism at such factories at a desired point, which may be located at any distance from the said mills.

The special object of myinvention is to furnish a correct, trustworthy, and permanent record at the office or other designated station of a manufacturing establishment of the hours during which the looms or other machines operating in the different mills or departments of the factory have been in action, or have, from any reason, been lying idle or inactive. To accomplish this result independently of any positive act or movement tending thereto on the part of the employs or attendants in charge of the different looms, and also to an range the various devices of my invention in such a manner that not only shall the duration of the alternate periods of action and inaction be noted, but that the specified time of occurrence of such periods shall likewise be correctly indicated and recorded.

My invention to this end consists, broadly, in placing at the offioe or central point chosen a slowly-revolving drum covered with paper suitably prepared, and placing in contact with the paper a series of metal reeds or pens equal in number to the looms or machines the movements of which are to be electrically registered; also, in establishing a conducting-wire from each reed, pen, or stylus to each of the looms in the mills, and a common return-wire leading from the metal substance of the drum, with which it is in electrical connection, through a galvanic battery, also to the several mills, where normally-open branch wires are led from it extending to each loom. The ends of the two wires are at each loom, by suitable devices, brought near to one another, and a circuitcloser is arranged thereat, said circuit-closer being actuated by the movement of the belt-shipper, by which the looms are started or stopped, so that the action of starting or stopping may also'operate the circuit-closer, whereby the direct wire and the branch of the return-wire are brought into contact with one another, and the circuit of the battery closed through the pen or reed belonging to that particular machine, a record being thereby produced upon the prepared paper,which can be examined at leisure by the proper person. The record-sheet may be taken from the drum when filled and a new sheet substituted therefor.

In the drawings by which my invention is illustrated, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the complete system. Fig. 2 is a detail view, showing the circuit-closer as arranged with reference to the shipper. Fig. 3 is a side view of the circuitcloser. Fig. at is a front elevation of the recording-machine or register. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the same, and Fig. 6 is a portion of the recordsheet, showing the divisions thereof. Fig. 7 isa diagram showing in detail the electrical connections.

Referring now to the drawings, A A are two separate mills, each having a series of looms or other machines, B. The office 0 may be any distance away,and is connected with each mill and with each loom in all of the mills by direct wires 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. (See Fig. 7.) A return-wire, which may be common to all the mills and to all the looms thereof, is also extended between the said mills and the office O.

For the sake of compactness, I have shown in Fig. 1 the connecting-wires as being inclosed in cables 1, 2, and 3, extending from the mills to a vault, E, in which all the cables unite in a main cable, 4L,which is then extended between the vault E and the office 0. Arriving at the mills A the cables 1, 2, and 3 may be divided into smaller cables 9 and 10, which may be attached to the walls or suspended from the ceilings in any suitable and convenient manner and led to the several looms, at each of which the direct wire appertaining thereto is withdrawn from the cable and connected with one side of a circuitcloser, O. In Fig. l the helically -twisted wires a, b, c, d, and 6 represent these direct 25 and c.

3 5 closer.

55 parting from my invention.

5 has one direct wire to the office, I have shown an arrangement in Fig. 7 in which the wires 11 to 16 are separately led from the looms B to the main cable 4, and from thence into the office but Iprefer to continue the cables into IO the mills and withdraw the wires therefrom I the mills, passes also through the main cable i, and thereby into the vault or chamber E, where as many branches are attached to it as there are mills to be supplied, and each mill branch on arriving at its destination is 20 again branched to every loom, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 7, in which the wire Sis branched or tapped to each of the looms, the several branches being respectively represented by the short straight wires a, I), c, (1, These short branch wires are united to the other side of the circuit-closers O, and are therefore in close juxtaposition to the normally-open direct wires, but are not in con tact therewith. The circuit-closers 0, one for 0 each loom, are attached to the shippers H, by

which the looms are set in motion or stopped in such a manner that the said shipper cannot be actuated in either direction without producing a definite movement of the circuit- The said circuit-closer 0 consists of a plunger, s, which may be formed entirely of metal, or merely tipped with metal at its point f, sliding in a bracket, 5 and attached to the handle H of the shipper. Two Springs, 8 s,

are affixed to a non-conducting base, It, the direct wire a is electrically connected with one of the springs, and a branch, a, of the returnwire 5 with the other spring, and when the plunger 2 is withdrawn the springs, as herein- 5 before indicated and as shown, are not in contact, the direct wire, therefore, having no contact with the branch. When, however, the plunger is advanced by the movement of ,the shipper, its metal tip f is forced between the 0 springs, and thus brings them into contact,

completing a circuit between the direct and branch wires.

I may, of course, if I so elect, vary the form of the cireuit'closer O indefinitely without de- I may, for example, form the plunger or spindle a of some non-condueting material, and cause it to be normally inserted between the springs s and -s, thus separating them and in such a case the contact would be made by their resiliency,

they being adjusted to spring together on the withdrawal of the spindle; or I may allow the backward movement of the shipper to produce the required contact, instead of the forward movement, as shown.

sists in a metal drum, D, which is slowly rotated by suitable mechanism, T, impelled by any convenient power-such as a spring or a weight, Sand governed by a'l'an-fly, F, This motor mechanism may be supported in a frame, K, attached to the side of the drumstandards J.

The return-wire is connected with a battery, M B, of sufficient strength, and the other pole of the battery is united to a wire, \V, which leads to and is connected with the metal substance of the drum 1). The direct wires, one from each loom leaving the cable 4, diverge by wires 10 to metallic continuations 1', which may be reeds, pens, or styles, or which may be simply the bared ends of the wires, and which should be made of iron or steel. These metal ends of the several direct wires rest not on the metal surface of the drum, but upon a sheet of chemically-prepared paper, Fig. 6, which is laid closely round the said drum, and which is held tightly thereon by clips I, which hold it atthe ends of the drum; or it may be held by bands of india-rubber placed round the drum at the ends and at the middle thereof or I may, if I so elect, instead of attaching the prepared paper to the surface of the drum, provide a roller or reel whereon it is normally rolled, and cause it to pass over a portion only of the surface of the drum, it being held in position thereon by guides, as before, and after passing the drum it may be received on a second roll.

G G are guides or holders attached to the two ends of standards I, and adapted to hold the styles or iron-wire continuations in place and firmly down to the paper. The prepared paper is graduated from left to right into as many spaces as there are direct loonrwircs, and each wire records only in its own space. It is also graduated lengthwise to correspond with the hours of the day or night, and may be adapted either for a twenty-four or twelve hour record, according to the rate of speed at which the drum is rotated, and the said speed may be arranged to produce a revolution in any given time but for uniformityI prefer to complete a revolution either in twelve or twenty-four hours. The paper may be soaked in a solution of potassic iodide, and when the circuit of any of the direct wires is closed at the loom, a current of electricity will pass from the stylus connected therewith and pro duce a delicate brown mark on the paper in its own space, continuing to make the same so long as the circuit is closed. Thus a'record is made of every change in the condition of be dispensed with. Several sets of wires may be connected and led to a central indicatingpoint, so that the operation of a series of machines in separate factories may be brought under the observation of a superintendent at a main or central office. Mechanism similar to that employed in a telephone system may be used to make said connections.

In the operation of my invention the drum is set and fitted with a new record-sheet at stated times, and is allowed to rotate constantly at a regular velocity. So long as the circuits are incomplete no mark is made on the paper; but as soon as any of the circuit-closers are operated by the transfer of the shipper, a mark is made in its proper space, continuing until the circuit, by another change in the position of the shipper, is again opened. An exact record of the work of every loom or machine may thus, by the involuntary action of the operatives, be produced, and may be filed away for reference, or used for any desired purpose.

It is obvious that the circuit may be closed either by the stopping or starting movement of the shipper, and I do not confine myself to either plan to the exclusion of the other, the only difference in the result being that when closed by the starting-movement the record is made constantly during the time of operation, and when closed by the stoppingmovement the record is made only when the looms are idle. Either plan may be used, the latter in some respects being preferable, on account of its greater economy in the use of batterypower. The conductingwvires may be cabled, as shown in the drawings, and led from the mills to the office underground by means of conduits and connecting-vaults, or they may be carried on poles in the usual way.

The frame composed of the holders G G and I I may be arranged to swing away from the drum by mounting it on pivots p p, as shown in Figs. at and 5, so as to facilitate the removal or attachment of the paper.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, with a series of looms or other machines at one or more mills, and with the starting and stopping mechanism thereof, of a series of electric circuits and circuit-closers thereforone for each loomthe said circuit-closers being adapted to be operated by the movements made to start and stop the loom, and a recording apparatus lo prepared paper, a series of direct line-wires one for each loom-extending between the several looms and the central point, each wire terminating at the said central point in a metal reed, pen, stylus, or other suitable ter minal resting on the prepared paper of the rotating drum, a common return-wire, or an electrical equivalent therefor, branching to all the looms, and also extending to the central point, there being connected with the metal substance of the rotating drum a voltaic battery in the circuit of the common return or ground wire, a series of circuit-closersone for each loom connected between the ends of the direct wires and the branches of the return wires, and means, as indicated, whereby the starting and stopping of each loom is enabled also to close or open its corresponding circuitcloser, so that when the circuit-closer of any loom is closed the circuit of the direct wire belonging thereto shall be completed through the drum and the prepared paper, for the purposes specified.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a series of looms and their shippers or controlling-levers, and a circuit-closer attached to each of the said shippers and operated by the movements thereof, with a recording apparatus at a distant point, whereon the operative condition of any loom at any given-time is recorded, a series of direct wires extending one from each circuitcloser to the said recording apparatus, and a return-wire connected also with the recording apparatus, and extending therefrom through a battery and by means of branches to each and every circuit-closer, for the purposes specified.

4. In a system for recording electrically the respective periods of operation and rest of a series of looms, a recording apparatus consisting of a metal drum or roller rotated by a suitable motor, a prepared registry-sheet attached thereto, clamping devices for attaching the said registry-sheet to the drum, a series of metal line-terminals resting on the prepared sheet, guides or holders for holding the said terminals in position, and a return-conductor connected with the axis and surface of the drum and leading to a voltaic battery and to a series of distant circuit cIosers, whereby the circuit of the battery may be completed through any or all of the direct wires, and whereby each of the said direct wires is enabled,when its circuit is so completed, to trace a line on the prepared paper.

5. The combination, with a series of direct line-wires, areturn-wire common to the series, and a voltaic battery in the circuit of the said common return-wire, of arotating drum coated with a graduated suitably-prepared recordsheet, the said drum having its substance in metallic contact with the return-wire, and the graduated sheet thereon being in electrical connection with all of, the direct wires, and a series of circuit-closers, whereby the circuit of any of the direct wires may be completed through the return-wire, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. The combination, substantially as here inbefore described, of the shipper or starting lever of a loom or other inalnrfacturing inachinepvith the eircuit-closer of an electric circuit extending by a directline and bya branch and main stem of a common return-line to a distant recording apparatus, whereby the 1110- tion of stopping or starting the machine auto matically and simultaneously also makes or breaks the said electric-circuit, for the purposes specified.

7. The combination, in an electrical registering apparatus, of a rotating metal drum or roller, a chemically-prepared graduated record-sheet spread thereon, a series of direct Wires having their metal terminals resting on the prepared paper and extending outwardly therefrom, each to one side of a circuiteloser, a return or ground Wire connected with said drum and extending in branch circuits to the other side of each of the circuit-closers, and an electrical battery in the circuit of said return-wire, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses, this 12th day of December, 1882.

\Vitnesses:

(1F. BROWN, A. L. \Vnrrn.

AARON l). B'LODGETP. 

